Work Text:
Leo was worried if he was being honest. Can you blame him? His friends have finally made it out of Tartarus. Tartarus. Y’know like the Greek equivalent of literal freaking hell !? And while both are now back on the Argo II safe , one is now a ghost and the other has yet to wake up.
Annabeth hasn’t woken up yet. But that wasn’t why Leo was worried. He knew that she would be okay, and was likely to wake within the next day. She was just sleeping.
No, Leo was worried about Percy. It had been about a week since Nico had said he felt Percy die. Leo wasn’t expecting to find both Annabeth and Percy when he’d opened the elevator door, but he had been relieved when he’d seen the child of Poseidon still up and kicking.
At that moment, all he’d felt was relief when he saw his two friends were okay. Now, he feels guilt. After all, it was his fault they fell into Tartarus, so it was his fault Percy died.
Percy has been acting weird ever since Annabeth has gone to sleep. They would stay by her side, not taking their eyes off her, and was always so tense. Percy would remind Leo of a possessive cat.
Leo often wondered how the whole ghost thing was affecting Percy. He doesn’t know the guy well but Leo feels for them. He imagines it would be hard to wake up and find that you’re now a whole different species.
Would Percy have new ghost powers? Like flying? Or maybe turning invisible? Ooh, or maybe even going through walls? That would be cool! He’d ask the newly formed ghost when he had the chance.
Though, who knew how long Leo would have to wait to ask, Percy hasn’t been responsive for a while. They were fine earlier when Reyna, Nico, and Coach Hedge were still here and Annabeth was awake, but now as Annabeth sleeps it is impossible to get a single sound out of the ghost. They decided to leave the two alone for a bit. Hopefully things would return to normal once Annabeth wakes up.
“Leo,” a voice he recognized to be Piper's, called out, startling Leo out of his thoughts, “It’s time for dinner!”
Piper had taken to calling Leo whenever it was time for a meal because often he’d never realize what time it was and missed whenever it was time to eat.
Leo walked into the mess hall, taking note of two of his friend’s absences.
“I’ll go bring a plate for Percy and Annabeth,” Leo says, grabbing two plates and making his way to Annabeth’s room.
When Leo opened the door, he saw what he had expected to see. Annabeth lay in her bed peaceful, while her partner sat by her side, diligently guarding her.
“Hey-”
That was all Leo was able to say before Leo found himself pressed against the wall with a sword against his throat. Percy snarled at Leo, not recognizing him. The plates shattered on the ground.
Leo’s eyes widened as Percy’s form started to flicker. Before Annabeth had headed off to bed, the two had gotten their wounds cleaned (mainly Annabeth) and changed their clothes. Percy had flickered from the clothes they were wearing now to a cloak that was reminiscent of a bedsheet ghost and was covered in blood from various different wounds that weren’t there before and- holy hades are those wings?!
“Don’t touch her,” Percy whispered. If you looked closer, you could see that Percy’s eyes were slitted in a cat-like way.
“Percy, it’s me, Leo,” Leo assured the child of Poseidon, though wary of the sword that could kill him at any moment. ( But Percy wouldn’t hurt him, right? ). “You’re on the Argo II. You’re safe, Annabeth is safe. She’s just resting.”
“Annabeth is… safe,” Percy repeated to themself quietly. They let go of Leo and their sword arm dropped down. But after a few seconds they tensed up again. “Not safe. Monsters everywhere.”
“You’re not there anymore,” Leo said, trying to calm down the frazzled ghost, making sure to keep his distance so as to not overwhelm the them. “You’re free. You got out safe. The monsters are all gone.”
Percy muttered something harshly under their breath that Leo could not understand.
Leo wracked his brain for anything that might help Percy. “Uhh… What are five things you can see?”
“What?” The word sounded a bit garbled when Percy said it.
“I need you to tell me five things you can see,” Leo repeated.
He waited patiently for a response.
“I…” Percy took a few more seconds as they looked around the room. “Um, I see Leo- I mean you, Annabeth, books, blueprints, and” Percy made an expression Leo couldn’t decipher “My wings?”
“What are four things you can feel?” Leo continued, fidgeting nervously with his hands but relieved that the grounding technique seemed to be working.
“Feel…” Percy trailed off. Percy placed a hand on the wall and gave a small smile. “I feel the texture of the wall, my clothes against my skin, the floor under me and uhhh,” Percy shifted, unable to think of anything else. Leo extended a hand which Percy hesitantly took. When Percy grabbed Leo’s hand, they gave a tight squeeze as if not believing that they were able to hold his hand. “And your hand in mine, you’re really warm. I can feel.”
“And what are three things you can hear?” asked Leo gently.
“Our friends talking, the ocean,” Percy replied, now more aware of their surroundings and seeming more like themself. “Annabeth breathing.”
“Two things you can smell.”
“Pasta,” answered Percy. Leo nodded encouragingly. “And uh that air freshener Annabeth uses in her room.”
“And finally, one thing you can taste,” Leo asked.
Percy took a few seconds as they thought. Leo silently passed them a candy which Percy popped into their mouth.
“Blue raspberry,” Percy finally answered, smiling a bit. “My favorite.”
Leo smiled back. “You back with me now?”
Percy nodded. Then their eyes widened as they noticed the shattered glass on the ground, immediately dropping down to pick it up, letting go of Leo’s hand. “Oh my gods, I am so sorry, Leo! I didn’t mean to hurt you back there and I made you drop the plates!”
“S’fine, no worries!” Leo assured as he stopped Percy from grabbing the glass. “All that matters is that you’re okay now, you’re worth more than a couple of old plates. You’ll hurt yourself if you just pick them up with your bare hands.”
“They won’t hurt me. I’m dead,” said Percy far too bluntly, which they immediately realized when Leo winced. “Sorry.”
Percy bent down once again to pick up the glass and throw them away. Leo didn’t stop them, but did notice how the glass still cut them.
Percy noticed Leo’s staring. “I can’t really feel the pain. Ghost stuff. It’ll heal after a few minutes.”
True to Percy’s word, the cuts had already stopped bleeding.
“Anyway, I’m sorry again,” Percy apologized. “You shouldn’t have had to see me like that.”
“Mind explaining what ‘that’ was?” Leo asked. “But of course I get it if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s okay,” Percy assured. “I want to tell you.”
Percy and Leo moved to sit down on a bean bag so that they could be more comfortable before proceeding with the story.
“When I… died, my soul had bonded with Annabeth,” Percy explained. “If it weren’t for that I probably would have been stuck roaming in Tartarus forever.” Leo paled. “I have these new ghostly instincts that I can’t really control so I guess I get really protective of Annabeth, I didn’t recognize you as a friend earlier. These instincts have protected us in Tartarus, but now that we’re out… they’re just putting you all in danger.”
“That’s why we practice!” Leo replied. “We can help teach you to control your new ghost stuff! Maybe we can get you to recognize us as friends even when we go full-ghost, like if you recognize our scent or something…?”
“Like a cat?” Percy asked.
“Yes! Exactly!” Leo exclaimed.
“So you’re gonna train me,” Percy said skeptically, “Like a cat. Eh, sure why not?”
“I wonder if there’s a ghost equivalent of catnip,” Leo wondered out loud, a wide smile on his face.
“I hope you never find out the answer,” Percy responds.
“ Anyway, we should head to dinner before the others worry,” Leo redirected the conversation.
“Uh, if it’s fine with you, I think I’ll stay here,” Percy replied, folding their wings in closer self-consciously. “I don’t want the others to see me like this right now and I don’t know how long it will take to disappear.”
“Shall I bring you another plate then?” Leo asked.
Percy nodded.
Leo gave Percy a thumbs up before leaving the room and returning to the mess hall. Explaining a bit of what had happened to a worried Piper who had noticed Leo’s long absence before grabbing new plates,
Percy smiles to themself, knowing that whatever troubles they might have, their friends will always stick by their side. Regardless of being human or not. They love Percy for Percy.
The thought makes them feel a little more whole.
Maybe Percy could learn to love themself, even as a ghost.